Delhi CM raps Health Minister over ventilator ‘shortage’ at hospital

The Federation of Resident Doctor's Association of Delhi (FORDA) claimed that they had raised the issue of shortage of critical care facilities, including ventilators, several times with the Delhi government but nothing was done.

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday pulled up Health Minister Satyendar Jain over reports of shortage of ventilators at Delhi government-run hospitals in the national capital. A peeved Kejriwal reacted on Twitter following media reports claiming Ambu-bags (manual hand-held devices which support breathing) being used to resuscitate patients due to an “acute shortage” of ventilators at hospitals.

“Satinder, this is unacceptable (sic),” he tweeted.

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The Federation of Resident Doctor’s Association of Delhi (FORDA) claimed that they had raised the issue of shortage of critical care facilities, including ventilators, several times with the Delhi government but nothing was done.

FORDA president Dr Pankaj Solanki said, “Health Minister Satyendar Jain has been told about this many times.”

He mentioned that in June 2015, after resident doctors went on a strike demanding better facilities, Jain had sought three months’ time to provide ventilators, consumables and drugs but claimed no action was taken.

The Indian Medical Association (IMA) and the Delhi Medical Council have also condemned the shortage of critical care facilities in hospitals and demanded immediate steps be taken to improve the situation.

Ambu-bag is a manual, handheld resuscitation device, which attendants are asked to keep pressing 16 to 18 times per minute to move air into and out of lungs of patients who cannot breathe on their own.